


Telling Tall Tales—The Where In The World Is Nate Ford Job

by crayonbreakygal



Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [3]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24164686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: "You will not believe what happened today. It was fabulous."
Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741693
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Telling Tall Tales—The Where In The World Is Nate Ford Job

**Author's Note:**

> And here we go again. I wonder when I'll run out of ideas.

Telling Tall Tales—The Where In The World Is Nate Ford Job

Takes place, well, you know….

“Oh, darling. You will not believe what happened today. It was fabulous. The con could rival one of our best, that’s for sure. Hardison was able to get through it without blowing it. You’d be so proud.”

“What? What did I say? So, you know how much Eliot hates, hates wearing suits. Sophie had this idea that Eliot would be the guy in a suit. She had him fitted for one. I swear all he did was fidget the whole time. She kept yelling in his ear to stop as only Sophie knows how. Dang, they fell for him, hook, line, and sinker. He was on fire, man. You would appreciate how Parker nailed this one, hands down.”

Hardison relaxed his legs, propping them up. He wasn’t worried that Nate would yell at him to put his feet down. He wished that Nate would do that though. He definitely wished that the man would tell him that the footrest that Hardison invented was not appropriate. That was not going to happen.

“It was no stabbing Wednesdays. It was close. I thought Parker was gonna stab the new guy, but I held her back. I have perfected my ‘Nate exasperated sigh’ to perfection. The guy might have deserved it, but we didn’t have time to take him to the hospital and all.”

Hardison picked up his orange soda from the floor where he had placed it. He needed something to quench his thirst in addition to adding to the air the smell of oranges. It always helped erase the smell that lingered. Orange was soothing to him. He hoped that it was soothing to Nate.

“This guy was going down. Even New Guy got into it finally. Still hasn’t perfected the gloat, but you know. It’ll come with time. I thought Eliot was gonna bust out of that suit at the end like the Hulk or something. I think he got a little blood on the sleeve. Soph was gonna have a heart attack about that.”

Hardison stopped his train of thought on that last statement. No talking about that kind of thing. He had been warned before. Only happy talk was Parker’s motto.

“It’ll be ages before we get him in one again.”

“Damn monkey suit. I don’t know how you stood them for so long. Of course, you never pulled the damn tie up correctly, but whatever. At least no one got stabbed or anything. The next job was a breeze compared to that one. I keep thinking that there’s gonna be a rhythm like we had before. I mean, it’s coming. It’s just….”

Eliot stopped and looked off into the distance like he was remembering something that happened a long time ago.

“I’m not a mind reader or anything, but with the four of you, I could predict down to the minute what you might do. The magic, it’s not there. I know Parker said all happy talk. I have to talk to someone who gets it. You get it. It doesn’t always go as planned. Parker never wants to screw it up. She had contingencies, just like you taught her. Frankly, she’s damn good at it.”

Eliot looked down at his hands, twisting them in his lap. Hard truths were difficult for him to say. He felt he could say them to Nate, and he would just get it with a look or a sigh.

“New Guy. We keep calling him Nate just to yank his chain. I mean, he’s not Evil Nate. Basic Nate? Man, we still haven’t figured out a nickname for him that will stick.”

Looking up at the ceiling, Eliot reeled it in, attempting not to be emotional with the whole situation. It was difficult for him to sit in that chair.

“We needed a body though. It works with five. Five people. Damn glad to have Sophie back in the mix. She’s alright, you know. I got her. I got them all. Remember the promise I gave you?”

“I know, happy face. Happy face. I promised. I really did promise. Right? Ok, so the new guy almost blew the last job. We were so close. So, so close to using plan A to the end. Then he goes and blows it. Sophie saved the day though. You’d be proud of her. He’s gonna work out. It’s, it’s getting better. He’s an amateur compared to you. Eager to learn. Eliot won’t let him near any kind of weapon. We don’t talk about that. Ever.”

Parker sat upright, legs crossed in front of her. She felt that she needed to be respectful like she was giving a briefing instead of just talking. She talked the most except for Sophie. Keeping Nate in the loop. Always keeping Nate in the loop.

“Did I tell you about what happened the last time Hardison had to take point? Didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. He really is getting better at not overselling it. I swear he is. Sophie’s been such a good coach. Oh, oh. You will not believe the new tech Hardison installed. He finally was able to make the comms waterproof. That made Eliot a happy clam. Are clams happy? I wonder where that expression came from. Well, we did get to test them the last job because both Eliot and the new guy got thrown in a lake. Not my fault.”

Sitting still in the seat wasn’t Parker’s strong suit. She wanted to hang upside down, lay across the chair, get comfortable. Should she? Did she think he would mind? What would he say? Dammit, she thought. Enough of this. He wouldn’t care. Would he?

Hanging upside down, Parker started to talk in earnest, telling him every detail of the last job, down to what they ate that week. Nate in addition to Eliot had wanted her to widen her palate.

“He made that chicken marsala dish that you like. Yum. Hardison ate so much of it, there weren’t any leftovers. Damn him. I think that Eliot is gonna put it in the rotation. Even New Guy liked it. You know, I really want to call him Evil Nate, but Sophie won’t let me. She still has fond memories of Sterling being called that. I told her that there could be more than one Evil Nate in the world. She disagreed. She even called Sterling to ask him for his advice. Can you believe it? She called Sterling?”

“You’d be proud of her, Nate. So proud. Our baby girl. Well, I’m not old enough to be her mother, but you understand.”

Sophie didn’t sit in the chair, or on the floor, or with her feet propped up, or standing. The bed was comfortable and was large enough that she could gently lie down and not disturb any of the medical equipment.

“It’s working out alright. Eliot hasn’t been called upon to cause too much damage. Parker is a bit more subdued when it comes to putting them in danger. You could take a lesson or two from her, dear. Her quiet confidence is amazing.”

Sophie snuggled into the pillow. “Oh, alright. Parker, quiet? She has grown into the job though. The three work like a well-oiled machine. They were minus a grifter. While Hardison’s skills have improved, do not give him a con that is longer than a few days.”

The hand that she held did not move, did not take hers in his, or even give any indication or reaction that she was right beside him.

“We need to look over those documents again. I’ll do that when I get back. I’ll give you an update once I figure out where to go with it. Parker already has some ideas but wants to make sure that when I finally go in to take control, that there’s no danger. I’m not sure how to tell her that she can’t control that as much as she wants.”

She wanted to turn off the beep beep that constantly sounded, but the one time she did, something went wrong.

She promised. She knew that she had promised that she wouldn’t let this happen. But it did. And now she couldn’t let it go. She couldn’t let him go. Parker couldn’t either. Eliot had been the most logical, had understood what the doctors were telling them. It may never happen. Sophie couldn’t live without him.

Tears started to form once again. They always did when it was time for her to go. Two hours every other day, just to give the others time with him. She needed more time. She begged for more time with him.

Sophie tried to always take her mascara off before she came. She saved time so that she didn’t look like a raccoon once she left. As she carded her hands through his hair, she wished that he could give her one sign, a twitch, something to indicate that he was going to wake up. The doctors said that it might happen, but it had been too long.

“I should go, darling. I love you, you bastard. You promised. Remember? You promised that you wouldn’t die. And now, like this? I told Parker I wasn’t going to get angry with you this time, but dammit, Nate. It’s been months. Too long. Please.”

“If this is the best con you could pull, it’s not working, mate. You better wake the hell up before I have to arrest the whole lot. They’ve been making mistakes. Too many mistakes that I cannot ignore.”

Jim Sterling stood at the foot of the bed, hands in his pockets. This was only the second time he had visited. Sophie had called him, begged him to visit, hoping that maybe by hearing Sterling’s voice, it might help bring Nate out of whatever coma he was in. No luck so far.

“Been almost six months.”

Tapping his fingers against his arms, Sterling tried to figure out the best method for speaking with Nate. None of the monitors gave any indication that anything had changed. Nothing. Taking the thing out of his pocket, Sterling placed the comm in Nate’s ear. He had swiped one from Hardison. He had no idea whether anyone had tried this.

“Now, old man. Ball’s in your court. They’re good. The best even. But they’re even better when you’re around.”

He’d have to tell the nurses not to take it out. As he turned to leave, he didn’t notice the twitch of the finger or the movement beneath the eyelid. It was there if you watched. It was there, even if the monitors didn’t indicate any change.

A small smirk broke out a few hours later, when Parker let out a scream of triumph. 


End file.
